Slow start dooms Butler
BUTLER TWP — Butler's slow start Friday night was somewhat understandable.
The Golden Tornado girls basketball team fell behind 17-0 at North Allegheny in dropping its season opener.
“That was our first game and it was (WPIAL power) North Allegheny,” Butler coach Mark Maier said. “I figured, OK, I can see that.”
He just couldn't see it happening again the very next day.
Visiting South Fayette outscored the Tornado (0-2) 16-2 in the first six minutes of Saturday's home opener, withstood a Butler rally and came away with a 63-45 victory. Butler pulled within three (24-21) in the waning seconds of the first half.
“You see it all the time in basketball, though,” Maier said. “A team expends all that energy coming back and you run out of gas later.”
Sarayne Forbes led Butler with 19 points. She sank three layups and a free throw in the span of two minutes to spark the Tornado's first-half comeback.
“She almost willed us back into this game,” Maier said. “Sarayne can be tough to guard. She can score a lot of different ways.”
No other Butler player scored more than six points. The Tornado sank just 16 of 45 shots from the field.
Makenna Maier — who scored 20 at North Allegheny — was limited to four points and didn't sink a field goal.
“We saw her bury some shots Friday night at North Allegheny,” South Fayette coach Bryan Bennett said. “We didn't want to see her do that to us today. Our focus was on taking her away.”
A Forbes free throw pulled Butler within 24-21 with 7.8 seconds left in the half. Giuliano Gaetano sank a trey at the buzzer to put South Fayette (1-0) up by six.
“That three at the buzzer hurt us,” Maier admitted.
Butler had 17 turnovers on the day — nine in the first quarter.
Still, the Tornado appeared to be gaining momentum early in the third quarter. A personal foul and subsequent technical foul on 6-foot-2 sophomore Ava Leroux resulted in two free throws each by Sam Miller and Makenna Maier. Butler was within four (29-25) and had the ball.
The possession resulted in a turnover and the Lions went on a 10-2 run, opening up a 12-point lead. Butler trailed by 10 after three quarters and never got the deficit out of double figures the rest of the way.
South Fayette had three sophomores and a freshman in its starting lineup.
“This is a talented group of girls, but that talent is very raw right now,” Bennett said. “Once we made a couple of mistakes, our heads dropped down a little bit and they (Butler) were able to make a run.
“As this team matures a little bit, things like that won't happen. But I'm excited by the way we played overall today.”
The Lions had a 38-24 rebounding edge on Butler. Leroux came off the bench to lead South Fayette with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Gaetano had 12 points on four treys, Maddie Webber 11 points and Lainey Yater 10 assists.
“They have ability and they had something to do with how we played today,” Maier said. “But we came out flat at the start and that begins with me.
“I have to do a better job of getting us ready to play.”
Butler hosts Pine-Richland Monday night in its second section game.
<b>SOUTH FAYETTE 63</b>Sydney Burns 0-1 0-0 0, Raven Mozick 0-0 0-2 0, Cami Feltz 0-0 0-0 0, Jessica Stabile 3-6 1-2 8, Lainey Yater 3-7 1-2 7, Rachel Black 3-9 0-0 7, Erica Hall 1-5 2-2 4, Maddie Webber 5-9 0-1 11, Giuliana Gaetano 4-9 0-0 12, Ava Leroux 6-9 2-2 14. Totals: 25-55 6-11 63.<b>BUTLER 45</b>Sarah Fiorina 1-1 0-2 2, Sarayne Forbes 7-15 3-6 19, Justine Forbes 1-2 0-1 2, Ali Altman 2-11 0-0 4, Makenna Maier 0-4 4-5 4, Maisy Gibson 2-2 0-1 4, Aubree Tack 1-3 0-0 2, Sam Miller 0-1 2-2 2, Hannah Aldridge 2-2 0-0 6, Megan Penrod 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-45 9-17 45.South Fayette 16 11 17 19 — 63Butler6 15 13 11 — 453-point goals: Stabile, Black, Webber, Gaetano 4; S.Forbes 2, Aldridge 2JV: South Fayette, 48-42 (SF: Jess Burns 14, Ava Leroux 11; B: Justine Forbes 13)Monday: Pine-Richland at Butler
